President’s speeches, letters, and articles
Subject: Reflecting on Our Year Together
May 14, 2024
Dear Reed community,
This year has tested our resilience and forced us to draw upon our deepest reserves of empathy and understanding. I am immensely grateful to all Reedies who have supported one another throughout the year and created moments of connection and community.
Faculty and staff, your dedication to educating our students and encouraging them as they develop their voices is inspiring. Thank you.
Class of 2024, I am in awe of the ways in which you persevered during your time at Reed. You began your studies here at a time when the world felt in turmoil, and you finished up in another time of global consequence. I cannot wait to see how you go forth and shape the world, Reed degrees in hand.
Our Reed community has faced profound hardships together. We have mourned the heartbreaking loss of two of our beloved students this year, and we have navigated the complexities of a campus alive with protest and passion for change. Sadly, we have confronted antisemitism and Islamophobia on campus. We do not and will not tolerate hate in our community, and, even as we may disagree on issues of great importance, we will continue to be vigilant in our fight against discrimination and hatred.
Throughout these challenging times, Reed has strived to serve as a place for connection and dialogue across differences—a place where we seek not to dictate, but to converse, to listen and learn from one another. Our goal is not merely to coexist but to honor and celebrate our shared humanity. Institutions are defined by the people who comprise them, and Reed is extraordinary because of you.
The Reedie spirit of unity was beautifully embodied in this year’s Renn Fayre. I want to express my appreciation to the organizers for dedicating the event to Linda Howard ’70, who urged us to see the beauty in our diversity and to stay strong as a community. In her words, “It is by our shared experiences that we find pathways to peace; it is by listening that we learn, by teaching that we transform.”
As we look to the future, let us continue to come together, connect, and support one another. I look forward to working alongside you as we continue to strengthen our commitment to building a community rooted in a passion for learning and mutual respect.
Sincerely,
Audrey Bilger
President, Reed College